Sacramento, California - January 2022
On Saturday, January 22, 2022, I encountered an unhoused lady who was unable to take her medications due to her methamphetamine use. She had lost everything apart from her dog, which she insisted on keeping because, in her own words, “I only have him to cuddle at night.”
This got me thinking: where did it all begin?
Was it a prescription?
A friend?
To treat a condition?
Society has a tendency to blame the addict, as if it is their fault but why it was prescribed in the first place. How did it all begin?
Is it a prescribed medication?
Or a friend’s suggestion?
Are people blaming the addict for not paying attention and reading about drugs, narcotics, pain management, filtering social media and all his connections and friends starting from the age of 12?
We never hear the story of how it all began – who put the drugs in the medicine cabinet in the first place? Who paid for it?
Insurance doesn’t cover most healthy alternatives. It’s always the addict’s fault. It could be the foster parents, biological parents, schools, social media, doctors, or health policies – but it is always the addict’s fault.
Where did it all begin?
It is time for the stories of Michelles, Crystals, Philips, Mikes and Henries to be heard. Their stories can help us to get to the root of the problem so that we can find a solution that works.